Last week’s “Spicy Sausage Casserole” recipe inspired at least one readers to take a stab at it. She told me she used spicy sausage, as called for in the recipe, and also added jalapeño peppers. She said it turned out well. I made it during the weekend, too, but instead of spicy sausage I used half ground Italian sausage and half ground mild pork sausage. I did not use the spicy sausages because I don’t care for real hot dishes. However, I will admit that spicy sausage probably would have resulted in a more flavorful casserole.

In February, Jody Meakins, of Meeker, sent me a packet of recipe cards, all of them soups. You might remember that Jody submitted her own delicious green pepper soup last fall. Jody had gotten the packet of recipes some years ago while she was attending teacher workshops at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

The soups were prepared by the University of Northern Iowa Department of Residence and served in their Royal Oak dining room. UNI students, staff and friends helped test the recipes.

So with Jody’s help, I was able to reach Carol Peterson, director of dining at UNI. I asked for permission to share two of the soup recipes with readers, and Peterson graciously agreed. I also enjoyed chatting with Peterson about UNI’s dining program. She reports that there are 4,200 students on meal plans at the university.

The university also has its own bakery and commissary. At the commissary, vegetables are prepared for recipes and meats are sliced, and then the ingredients for recipes are packaged and sent to various units. The recipes are made from scratch, and according to Peterson, food is purchased locally, within about 250 miles.

This week’s recipe is for beef barley soup. I’m going to make it this weekend, and I hope you might be encouraged to do the same.

Thanks to Jody Meakins for sending the recipes and to Carol Peterson for permission to reprint the recipe in this column. If you have a recipe that you’d like to share, write to me at P.O. Box 415, Craig, CO 81626, or call me at 970-824-8809.